Delhi's IPL team topped the league twice yet waited until 2020 for a final
In 2009 the Delhi Daredevils finished the Indian Premier League's group stage in first place, packed with stars such as Virender Sehwag and AB de Villiers. Then Adam Gilchrist hit what was then the fastest fifty in IPL history, in 17 balls, and knocked them out in the semi-final. Their first final did not come until 2020.
The franchise was born at the league's founding auction in Mumbai in February 2008, when the property developer GMR Group paid $84 million for the Delhi team. Its first season was respectable: after mixed early results it reached the last four before losing to the eventual champions, the Rajasthan Royals.
Promising squads kept stalling. The 2009 side, captained by Delhi native Gautam Gambhir, also included Daniel Vettori and future Australian stars Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell, then uncapped. Glenn McGrath spent the season on the bench while Dirk Nannes was preferred, and eventually stopped playing for Delhi. After finishing last in 2011, a rebuilt team with Kevin Pietersen and Mahela Jayawardene again topped the table in 2012.
Then came lean years. In 2013 Delhi lost their first six matches and finished bottom, and before the 2014 auction the club retained no players at all. That season they won only two of fourteen games, both at the tournament's temporary base in the United Arab Emirates, and again finished last, although captain JP Duminy scored 410 runs.
Ownership and identity changed together. In March 2018 JSW Sports bought half the franchise, and that December the team became the Delhi Capitals, with co-owner Parth Jindal explaining that Delhi is the country's power centre. The two groups now take turns running the men's team every two years, with GMR in charge for 2025 and 2026. Their reach has grown overseas too: in 2024 they agreed a £120 million deal for Hampshire County Cricket Club, pending approval, plus a controlling stake in the Southern Brave.
Source: Delhi Capitals
